The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-02-04
PAINTING ON CHINA.
RECENT REVIVAL OF MINIATURE POR-
TRAlTURE AMONG AMATEURS.

Soup Plates that Dear the Impress Of
Beauty and Dishes Decorated With
the Heads Of the Pretty Girls OF ths
Family.
Tho young New York woman has found q
new amusement. Shc paints on china-not
tho sort of painting on china that was the
rago during tho first years of the great
American renaissance OF art succeeding the
centennial she no longer decorates her
mammals soup plates with cluster of cat
tails that resembles nothing on earth SO
much as bunch of sausages hung up on a
green string She paints her mammals por-
trait on the plate, 80 that when papa eats
his dinner he finds a slice Of rare beef re.
clining on his better halfs plump cheek
and her well preserved locks plentifully be-
strcwn with green peas, while her right eye
regards him tenderly through a film Of
gravy.
This is one Of the phases of an endeavor
to return to tho LOST art Of miniature paint
ing which fell into innocuous desuctude
when tho reign Of the daguerrcotypc began
that charming, method Of reaching i'm
mortality still to be found in country par
lors Little brown leather cases fastened
with two little hooks, in which papa and
mamma sit hand in hand with a smile of
vacuous amiability, waiting to DO "took'
and ambitious to hand down his big collars
and her crinolino to an affectionate poster
ity who have to figure around with the light
to catch a glimpse Of them at all.
LATELY INTRODUCED.
Whenever Americans 60 to Sevres or
Dresden they order portraits of themselves or
their frie ads painted on porcelain. 1t is
this art Of porcelain miniature that has
lately been introduced here by Miss Smith,
who is graduate of the Cincinnati School
of Porcelain Painting, and has studied III
both Sovrcs and Dresden. Glasses Of young
women study der her and are learning to
produce the sort of porcelain portrait for
which it was formerly necessary to SO
abroad. These are in many respects very
satisfactory They lack some Of the exquis-
tie softness and purity Of tone given by the
old ivory grounds, but they have the adj
vantage of being practically indestructible
The life Of any painting on canvas is easily
calculablc but a portrait on china is very
nearly immortal, time and exposure to Hyst
have no effect upon it, and after 1000 years
it would be as fresh and pure in tint as the
day it came from the kiln.
These porcelain miniatures can be made
of any size, from head fifth Of life size
on plate or plaque to tiny productions on
bits of china not larger than a silver quar-
ter of dollar It is said that one lovely
young female here, whose head has been
photographed from every point Of the COM
pass and in every pose, made a well known
bachelor handsome dressing gown, whose
every button was painted with one Of the
many protraits of herself, and she painted
them with her own clever fingers, making
very excellent licensees Of herself on every
button.
There are two methods Of painting these
miniatures. The French, which is almost
entirely stippled, much Of it requiring to be
done under q magnifying glass. This is
necessitated by the weakness of the French
colors, which stand but two firings. The
other, the German method, as used in the
Dresden factories, is much less difficult and
the pictures are done by series Of washes,
the German colors standing any number of
returns to the kiln. This latter method
Miss Smith finds the favorite one with her
pupils, as tho results are so much more
rapid and the work less fatiguing. For her
own portraits she used a combination of
both manners and finds the fusion of the
two very successful.
Numbers Of fashionable women have
taken up this new fancy, and, as a result,
have made some charming portraits of their
own babies, which are set as brooches or in
bracelets, children's heads, with their soft
curves and delicate tints, lending themselves
effectively to this work. One mother, whose
culver is full, has bracelet in which the
tiny heads of her five babies are set, and it
makes charming adornment for her plump
white wrist.
These miniatures are not always so small,
however The favorite size is q small square
plate of proclaim about the size Of an Or
binary photograph, and framed in plush
they are very desirable form Of preserv-
ing the features of one's self and friends
The Americans had at one time a great
reputation, Immediately before and after the
Revolutionary war, as miniature painters,
and the only record of the loveliness Of the
colonial bellies is frequently found in one Of
those exquisite little ivory portraits Cop
ley and Sharpless both did excellent work
in that line, and later Shumway vGs well
known for his exquisite work on ivory. He
was great favorite in the south before the
war and used to travel there every winter,
getting commissions. Even yet there could
be found in many southern homes speci-
mems of his fine work and impcrishable testi-
mony to the beauties of the women of
past generation.
Ono curious phase this revival has taken
is the fancy for immortalizing some one
feature. Women will have the miniature
painted on porcelain Of a very lovely hand,
or round, white shoulder, perfect arm; a
rosy, Cupid's bow mouth, and Nine. Bar
rios, the widow of the dead president of
Guatemala, has had her superb Spanish eyes
painted, the rest of the face entirely shrouded
in black lace mantilla. A society woman
here has had her velvety cheek reproduced,
with its deep and lovely dimplc, which has
caused so much wild envy of her husband in
tho breasts of less fortunate mcn.-New
York World.